Consider This from NPR - Dramatic rescue of U.S. airman in Iran as Trump proposes expanded war budget

Episode Date: April 5, 2026

After a dramatic rescue of a U.S. airman in Iran, President Trump posted a profanity-laden threat to Iran that if it didn't open the Strait of Hormuz it would be "living in Hell." Representative Madeline Dean, Democrat from Pennsylvania told NPR that Trump's handling of the war in Iran - and the recent budget he proposed to fund it - are troubling and un-American.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail]. This episode was produced by Henry Larson. It was edited by Tinbete Ermyas and Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey there, it's Rob Schmitz. Can you do me a quick favor? We want to know what you think about consider this. The good, the bad, what keeps you listening? That's why we're hoping you'll take a couple of minutes to fill out the NPR News podcast listener survey. You can find it at npr.org slash spring survey. The latest in the war with Iran, a rescue mission, profanity-laced threats from the president, and a record-setting military budget request. On Friday, an American F-15 aircraft was shot down over Iran. The air crew ejected landing far inside enemy territory.

Several hundred or more special operations forces took part in this rescue effort, and what made this particularly challenging was the mountainous terrain. NPR's Tom Bowman spoke with Pentagon officials familiar with the mission. But U.S. forces trained for this very scenario, retrieving a down pilot in the mountains of the American. and West. And the air crews themselves go through rigorous training to survive and evade an enemy. Search and rescue helicopters found the pilot of the plane within a couple of hours, but the search continued for the second airman until late Saturday.

His weapons officer, a colonel, spent again two days evading Iranian militia and revolutionary guard forces. He was eventually plucked from a crevasse some 7,000 feet high. I'm told by a U.S. official, he's in stable condition, though no detail. on his wounds. He was flown by helicopter to Kuwait. The pilot was rescued in broad daylight, according to President Trump, who celebrated the mission on social media. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also praised it on ABCs this week. Well, I'm thankful that a second U.S. airmen has been rescued heroically by our special

forces, and we, of course, continue to pray for the safety, the health, the well-being of all of our men and women who are in uniform in a very dangerous theater of war. But on Easter Sunday, in a profanity-laden social media post, President Trump threatened to blow up Iranian bridges and power plants if it didn't open the strait of Hormuz. It's a threat he has made before, and one that contradicts his earlier comments in an address to the nation, when he said other countries should be responsible for getting their own oil through the waterway. Build up some delayed courage.

Should have done it before. Should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the straight and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. Iran has been essentially decimated. Consider this. The war in the Middle East is being waged in the skies above Iran and by the president online.

But now he'll have to convince Congress to fund his military budget, the largest in modern history. From NPR, I'm Rob Schmitz. It's Consider This from NPR. Representative Madeline Dean is a Democrat from Pennsylvania. She sits on both the House Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees. We discussed Iran and the proposed budget to fund the war there,

which includes major cuts to health care and science research. I started by asking about President Trump's profanity-laden Sunday morning truth social post, where he warned Iran that if it didn't open the Strait of Hermuz by 3rd, Tuesday, it would be, quote, living in hell. I don't know why I'm still stunned by what this president does. I don't know why, except maybe that's a sign that he cannot break us with his repeated indecencies. Of all days, Easter Sunday, boy, oh boy, how prayerful he must be. But it also reminds me of something that this is an unhinged president with really broken

notions. Violence just creates more violence. And now he's impatience using terrible profanity on Easter Sunday because he got trapped. I guess he just didn't understand the risk to the Straits of Hormuz, though everyone else did. And let's dig into that a little bit further. Earlier in the week, the president said the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is the duty of the country. that get oil from that route. You sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What happens if the U.S. withdraws from the war, and Iran still controls the strait?

It's a global disaster. It's an economic disaster. And, of course, the president should have checked with our allies before taking on this war with Mr. Netanyahu. Because you don't talk to your friends and allies. You take on a deadly war. We've lost 13 service members already. hundreds others wounded, thousands of civilians dead in the Middle East, in the rubble.

And then you say it's up to you guys to get this thing straightened out. It is such an incompetent, dangerous way to operate. We are at a war of his choosing with no notion of why he went in. He's given six or seven explanations and obviously no plan to leave this war. Let's move on to the budget. the White House asked Congress on Friday to approve its priorities for federal spending in 2027, including about $1.5 trillion for a defense. That's a 42% increase. That amount would be the highest level of military spending in modern U.S. history. Will you approve that money?

I certainly won't. The president's budget is, well, let me go back to the basics. It might sound trite, but it is true. budgets reflect our values. I sit as an appropriator. And so I want to make sure that my votes, the amendments I offer, the legislation I help craft, reflects the values that I believe my constituents want me to uphold. And here is what the president said about these cuts in a video released by the White House. It's not possible for us to take care of daycare.

Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing. Military protection. We have to guard the country. So he's talking about daycare. He also mentioned health care.

There are a range of proposed cuts here by the Trump administration. What are you hearing from your constituents about what these cuts would mean for them on a day-to-day basis? My constituents are extremely upset. It is Easter Sunday, if you'll forgive me. And I recently visited both the Dilley detention camp in Czech. as well as the Philadelphia ICE detention camp, which is housed in the Philadelphia federal prison. When we were in Dilley, Texas, Rob, I do want to tell you,

we met with multiple families, parents talking about their children who are terrified, unable to eat or sleep. We saw medical neglect. One little girl, I think she was about two, had an infection so bad in her mouth that it was green to look at. what we didn't see. I didn't see toys. I didn't see books.

I didn't see anything to help these children through their trauma. The kids were crying and saying, I just want to go back to school. I just want to be with my friends. We went to what they wanted to show off as an educational unit.

And this relates to this budget because of all of the funds that have been poured into ice. So they wanted to show off the classroom. You know what? It was. it was staged. It was a Patampkin classroom

with art buckets that had I picked up the art buckets. It was so obvious no kid had ever been in there. I have seven grandchildren. I said if my seven kids were in here for seven minutes, there'd be evidence of it. The art buckets were brand new with stickers still on them.

The crayons were unopened and unused. There wasn't a book. They had splayed construction paper on a table and claimed this was education unit. And I railed and I said to the administrator, how many teachers do you have here? One, for 99 kids, sometimes hundreds of kids from dozens of languages. Representative Dean, I want to end this conversation where we begin with the war in Iran. You set on the

House Foreign Affairs Committee, as we mentioned, many Americans want to know where this war goes from here. President Trump says it'll take another two or three weeks. Your assessment? I think we can't know. The only thing I believe from the pattern of behavior of this reckless president, who I really, I don't say this with any glee, he is unhinged and unwell if you hear him communicate. The only thing I do count on is that he bores of things very, very quickly. And I think he knows he's tanking this economy.

with the price of gas, with the price of every single good going up as a result of diesel increases. So I think he will tire of it and attempt to walk away. But what a dangerous predicament the world will be in as a result of what has happened there. That's Representative Madeline Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. Representative Dean, thanks for your time on this Easter Sunday. Thank you very much. In a statement to NPR, a DHS spokesperson said, the Dilley facility is retrofitted for families.

Children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling. Residents in the facility have ongoing access to on-site medical professionals. Before we go, just one more reminder to take a couple of minutes to fill out the NPR News Podcast Listener Survey. You can find it at npr.org slash spring survey. It's short, anonymous, and it would really help to hear from you. even if you've done one of these in the past. NPR.org slash spring survey. That link is in our episode notes.

This episode was produced by Henry Larson. It was edited by Timbeat Armius and Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigin. It's considered this from NPR. I'm Rob Schmitz.